Study of the Mechanical Properties of Hemp Fibers Treated with Supercritical CO2 Fluid

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the efficiency of supercritical CO2 (scCO2) fluid technology for the pretreatment of hemp fiber materials. In this investigation, although the limited conditions studied here, the test results show that we have obtained a promising quality of hemp fibers after this specific pretreatment in presence of swelling agent. The scCO2 treatment appeared to remove non cellulosic compounds from the fiber, thereby resulting in improvement in its appearance, and decrease in its linear density. We should continue this investigation through further studies, since it is an environmentally benign process.